FULFILLING THE GREAT COMMISSION THROUGH THE “HOUSE CHURCH”: A CASE STUDY OF HOME CELLS OF THE CHURCH OF PENTECOST

Abstract

The study is an investigation of the effectiveness of the house church as an ecclesiastical model in fulfilling the Great Commission and accelerating church growth, using the home cell system of the largest Christian denomination in Ghana, Church of Pentecost (CoP), as a case study. The house churches in the New Testament played a critical role in the spread of the gospel in the Hellenistic-Roman world in the first two centuries. However, the house churches lost their relevance with the progressive institutionalization of Christianity as a public entity from the time of Constantine. They were suppressed in the Reformation times, but revived in the 20th century through the endeavours of the Church Growth Movement. With a large membership of almost three million, Ghana’s CoP has adopted the house church model by creating thousands of home cells as a supplementary or alternative system of shepherding and growing its global membership. The effectiveness of the system is, however, hampered by shortages of home cell leaders in many of the CoP areas, with some cases being very acute. It indicates a serious weakness in the home cell system that must be remedied.